Description
The tree provides year-round visual and ecological value. In the depths of winter (January and February), long, golden-yellow male catkins drape from the bare branches like tinsel, signalling the very first hints of spring. While tiny, red-styled female flowers open on the same branch, they rely on the winter winds to bring pollen from a neighbouring hazel tree. By summer, the tree is clothed in broad, almost round, mid-green leaves with beautifully serrated edges, which turn a bright, clean yellow in autumn.
As September arrives, the highly anticipated harvest begins: clusters of delicious hazel-nuts appear, each neatly sheathed in a frilly green husk. These native nuts are a nutritional powerhouse packed with protein, mono-unsaturated fats, vital minerals, and Vitamin E. For the sustainably minded gardener, Hazel responds spectacularly to coppicing, rapidly regrowing long, straight, flexible stems that are perfect for traditional bean-poles, fencing, or wattle hurdles.
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Nutritional Autumn Harvest: Yields abundant crops of delicious, nutrient-dense hazelnuts.
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Vital Winter Pollen: Early-blooming yellow catkins offer life-saving early forage for pollinators.
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Excellent for Coppicing: Can be cut back to the ground repeatedly to yield straight, usable wood poles.
